Local Government Commissioner’s Ideas Snubbed by Broken Tories at First Opportunity.

 Wednesday 30th March 2022 will go down in the diary of Max Caller the Local Government Commissioner brought in to look at the dysfunctionality of Northumberland County Council as a Black-Mark day.

Following the meeting of full council on that day it has been released on ‘broken Tory’ social media that he has asked all political groups including the Cramlington Conservative Splinter Group and the gone into hiding Morpeth Mafia along with the Independent Party and the Labour Opposition, to rally behind the socialite Farmer and Council Leader, all top show, once glamorous, Glen Sanderson and begin to move the Council forward. Were led to believe their answers sit in the unpublishable category.

The Council meeting was unusual for Northumberland in that at last after 14 years of Tory twistiness in planning and bullying galore of everyone linked or even close to the need for a planning document to be produced, the Tories unveiled their new ‘Local Plan’ to the public. 

The Tories have always been the predominant group on the production of a planning document including the production of a proper ’Core Strategy document which links all Council policies into one tomb to ensure the Council's strategy, Parish Council plans and the Government of the days planning policy is considered in any and all applications for change, but the disgraced Conservative Council Leader Peter Jackson had that document removed and a number of attempts to reinstate it blocked by dodgy legal advice in order to stop a Government Garden Village project from going ahead.

The new ‘Local Plan’ has some way to go yet and needs Cross Party support before being finally presented as being valid and consistent with local need.

It's been noted by observers that the Labour Party Leader, Councillor Scott Dickinson offered the services of his group to work on a cross party basis with the Tories and Independents to consider all of the elements of the new Local Plan document primarily for equality and equity in planning purposes. An offer that would have moved the Council a little away from its lack of functionality tag and brought the Local Plan into the light possibly helping shape the views of Mr Caller that the Council may sit apart politically but can work in harmony on subjects other than potholes and dog dirt.

Councillor Dickinson’s offer was snubbed completely leading other commentators on the subject to suspect that the dumping of house numbers into the South-East and Rural Coalfield areas of the County sit in the new plan whilst areas where homes are needed for local people to take up due to the second homes crisis and social housing is hidden out of site and will lack consideration in future.

Of course it may also be found that in order to support their plan the Council has built its annual stealth tax for social care into its base budget to raise even more income for their pre-election war chest next year that may be aided by developers through the hand in velvet glove politics played out on the planning stage.

Councillor Sanderson, a man who has made a good income from Local Government for over three decades much of which as a £350 a day ‘Peer’ for the Tory led Local Government Association’ as well as being a man who has been unable to convince others to rally under his banner, as being a Farmer he wouldn’t understand the plight of ordinary people and the burden of Council Tax, as Farmers are exempt from that tax and with the Tory Party in Northumberland being awash with Farmers including the last two leaders of Council, it proves that Conservative thinking in the County isn’t on the side of those suffering from national Tory policy.